Leaf House

Girls' Room Progress

2012-02-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

I've had these pitcures ready to go for awhile now, but our computer fan is broken and I can only use it in short bursts, so posting has gotten pushed back. I've made so much progress in the last month and a half. Though this room is not complete, I've moved on to the next two rooms in the hopes of having them all almost done before the baby comes (one more month!).

My husband helped me upholster some headboards.

I've been sewing pillows like crazy.

DIY ombre curtains plus DIY bunting.

(inspired by this)

The closet! I am so happy with how this turned out! I still need to repaint the LOVE frames and add a fun poster to the large frame on top of the armoire. Hooks for dress ups and bags help keep things organized along with Ikea spice racks turned book holders.

The LOVE frames originally hung somewhere else and were reloctaed here and are made out of maps.

The framed butterflies are craft store butterflies I got on clearance and put in a shadow box frame.

(A fun way to add Pantone's color of the year: tangerine.)

This chair was originally rescuded from the trash and in bad shape. I do not love how it turned out. I'm not sure if it's the color alone or the color fabric combo.

(before)

Art

The fabric covered buttons are covered in my girls' baby clothes! I love this! I can't remember where I saw the idea, but it's a lovely way to add something special the the space. It makes me smile very time I see it.

I decided to temporarily swap out the little painted chair for this one, that has been floating around my house. I'm not sure if I like this one either, but it will stay for now.

The tulip pillow is made out of quilt square that my maternal grandmother made before she died (when my mom was 14).

I love mixing vintage with contemporary and heirlooms are the best way to do it!

I still need to paint the dresser, find some lamps, and add some art, but it feels so good to have this much done!

DIY Ombre Curtains

2012-01-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

Ombre has been all the rage for awhile now and is seen every where from home decor, art, clothing, and cakes. It's really no wonder why, too. The color variations are endless and the gradation beautiful - whether your looking for a single color ombre or multiple color effect.

anthropologie

via

anthro

via

After scratching my painted stripe curtains for my living room I was left with two sets of Ikea curtains. Determined to use what I bought (no IKEA here so returning was not an option), I decided that attempting ombre curtains could be fun. Plus one of the great things about ombre is that it's not exactly patterned, but it's not a solid color either. So it's a great way to add some visual texture and interest without taking away from pattern that is already in the room.

About a year ago I saw a designer create ombre curtains with bleach on HGTV. I searched for the tutorial, but couldn't find it. All I found were tutorials involving techniques similar to tie dye. So I decided to come up with my own...based on what I remembered from the show!

To start my project I took one set of curtain panels (IKEA $14.99)

Plus one bottle of Petal Pink Liquid RIT Dye.

If you've ever looked at this little blog before then you know I am a huge fan of RIT dye! I opted for the washer method since the washing machine does all the work.

Once my curtains were dyed I re-wet them. This important! You want you curtains wet - not sopping - but more than damp. The fabric soaks up the bleach better when wet. Because it's winter I decided to do the bleaching inside using my bathtub. I took down the shower curtain and hung my newly dyed curtain over the bar.

I had already added some bleach (sorry - I didn't measure!) to water in the tub. You can see that you want enough water to easily soak the curtain. I lowered the curtain into the water/bleach mixture until the part that I wanted to be the lightest was fully submerged. The I let it soak, periodically checking the progress.

This was so easy! The down side: because I was doing two panels, but only had room for one panel on the bar I had to do one at a time which resulted in an uneven ombre effect. One way to avoid this would be to do the project outside an a clothes line using buckets to soak the water. This way you can have the panels side by side and make sure they are evenly lowered and submerged. You would definitely want to measure out your bleach doing this making sure you had equal amounts in each bucket of water.

So I had to re-bleach one panel by soaking the area that needed to be lightened up. One you are done bleaching rinse the curtain in the shower getting as much bleach out as possible. It is VERY important that you don't let the bleached area touch the other parts of your curtain, otherwise you'll have bleach drips and smears. Here is my finished product:

This picture doesn't do it justice (I never seem to be able to get good lighting inside my house and the colors are always a little off!). The panels turned out better than I hoped! And I love that with the bleach method you don't have lines between the gradients of color.

I'm almost done with what I set out to accomplish in my girls' room this month! I'm just waiting on some fabric to arrive in the mail and for the weather to warm up this weekend so I can finish painting.

Happy Wednesday!

Looking for free art?

2012-01-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

If you're like me and your decorating budget is small, then you're always looking for a deal, a DIY, or better yet, free. Recently I came across a blog called BibliOdeyssey. The author reviews/showcases books (many vintage) and their illustrations. The illustrations are always interesting and often beautiful. If you click on an image it will take you to the author's Flickr photostream where there are literally over 8,000 images. I'm slowly making my way through. If you double click on an image, double click again and then click to see "all sizes" you can download the image in it's original size. I've come across everything from vintage children's books to fish and bird drawings, vintage marble paper, to antique typography. There is an impressive variety; it's definitely worth a visit. But beware - it's addictive!

The Original Chevron

2012-01-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Things are moving along in my girls' room. The closet and armoire will be finished today. Yay!

On another note, I had to share these photos I took over Christmas. We spent a few days in Cedar City, UT visiting my husband's parents and while there we stopped in for short visit to his grandparents (an hour is about all they can handle). I have been in this house countless times, but for some reason I have never seen this room. Maybe the door was always closed?

I did a double take as I walked by, then hurried to get my camera.

Chevron in the original! Based on what the rest of the house looks like they haven't changed a thing in over 30 years. It's fun to see how design and fashion trends get recycled - but always in an upgraded way!

New Year, New Rooms, New Baby

2012-01-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love fresh starts? That's my favorite part of welcoming a new year - the feeling that you can start over. And the idea of iimprovement. That's what a new year means to me. Improvement. This year I'm not only hoping to improve myself, but also my home. 2011 was a sadly unproductive year for me in the way of house progress (I guess being pregnant twice will do that), and I'm hoping 2012 will be different.

To start off this new year I've made the goal to re-do three rooms in 2 1/2 months. I'm determined that before I have a new baby, all my kids will have newly designed rooms. Let's hope I can do it!

I'm starting off in my older girls' shared room and using this fabric as inspiration:

{Totem Tart by Anna Maria Horner}

I love the colors - girly, but not sweet, and vibrant. With seven different colors it gives me lots of options for coordinating.

Here's what the room currently looks like:

{previously with this hand-me-down bedding from Ikea}

My girls got new bedding for Christmas. The hot pink was a bit of a stretch for me. I prefer neutral bedding. But the solid color, ruffles, and included sheet set and pillow cases (all for a great price) won me over. Let's hope I don't regret it!

I took the closet doors off a year ago to make the space more accessible. This will be the second place I tackle (I just finished some upholstered headboards). The armoire is moved, the hardware left behind from when I took out the closet rack is gone, holes spackled, and I'm planning to get started painting today.

Here's to 2012!

Big Things and Small Things

2011-12-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

The last couple of months I have really tried to get some things done around my house. Let's just say I wasn't as successful as I had hoped I would be.

I did dress up my Ikea cabinet.

This white cabinet is designed for shoes, but holds file folders of mail, receipts, school work, and other paper trails created by family members. It works great for a filing system! Originally it came with metal "feet." Not only did I not like how they looked but they also made the cabinet too tall. I added some silver numbers to the drawers. These numbers are from Lowe's and are house address numbers. I went cheap this go round with plastic numbers that I taped up (yes, taped). I wanted to be sure I liked the look before spending fifteen dollars and making nail holes.

I'm waiting for a warm day to paint a frame to hang above the dresser, and to paint that red basket white. It holds junk (i.e my husband's stuff) and sunglasses. The red makes it stand out more than I would like.

My husband painted our pantry door for me. I have hated the etched glass design (a fruit basket) on the door since we moved in. We painted it with magnetic and chalkboard paint.

I like the chalkboard, but not the magnetic paint. The magnetic paint dried very rigid and would not smooth out despite sanding. It gave the glass the texture of wood. But it is better than what it looked like before!

One of the big things I did this Fall was to make my own painted curtain. Here's what I have to say about it: unless the real thing is out of your budget, don't do it! Even using a fabric medium the painted part of the curtain was stiff. I felt like it looked like a cheap version of the real thing. But the funny thing is, I'm not sure that it is cheaper. Because I used a dark paint I had to put on lots of coats. Considering I had six panels to do, the cost of paint would have been almost as much as buying striped fabric, but a whole lot more work.

After doing one panel, I decided to go a different direction. And not just because of the work, but because the look as a whole didn't work with the room.

I decided to bite to bullet and splurge of this fabric:

Duralee Kalah Blue.

It was pricey at $20 a yard (from fabric.com), but it is so beautiful! It just came in the mail and I am working on getting my curtain panels made.

The other big project I did was to make over chairs for my kitchen. I found these chairs on craigs and really like them. They looked great painted a shiny silver and with new fabric. The only problem? I forgot to prime!! Arghh! So dumb, I know. I'll blame it on pregnancy brain! So needless to say, I'm waiting for the weather to warm up so my husband can strip them for me and I can repaint them.

Here's to a more productive new year!

Going Globable

2011-11-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

I love globes. Me and everyone else, I know. But they are so charming, and add interest and color to a space. Here is something I never would have considered doing: decoupage.

This butterfly decoupage globe was featured in this month's Tradtional Home Magazine. I kind of love it.

Wouldn't a butterfly one be so pretty in a little girl's room?

Here are some others I found:

via

Aren't these gorgeous? Really works of art. I'd love to try this some day...if I can bring myself to do it. Maybe once my collection has gotten a little bigger (four and counting) and I have one to spare?

Table Troubles

2011-10-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

The holidays have saved me. I had two "table" tops that were completely stumping me in the way of design and arrangement. I think the main problem was that I was trying to work with what I have. Which, though the most affordable option, isn't always the most workable option. Nothing was working. I was wracking my brains searching the internet for inspiration when October rolled around and I realized I had three months of holiday decor ahead of me...three months to figure out what I wanted to do. Thank you holidays!

My first trouble area is my yet to be hacked Malm. It has a much larger surface area than what was previously there...

...my silver console (that I painted last year in October). Here is what the area looked like then:

And after we inherited some furniture from my in laws:

I don't have any pictures of what was on top of the Malm before October - but it consisted of a vase with branches, a vintage globe and something else. I can't remember!

Currently I'm thinking I might paint the mirror a shiny silver and the malm a teal color - we'll see!

My second area is my entry. That is where my silver console was moved to and currently looks like this:

Before October it looked like this:

Blah! I just don't love the mirror and table finishes together. My ultimate goal is to have a chest of drawers here with a herringbone paint treatment, so I think I'll start looking for the chest come January. My second problem is the whole arrangement. I just don't like anything about it. The red lamp will relocate to my yet to be born baby boy's room (we just found out what we are having last week!), so that gives me a good excuse to scrap the whole table top and start over...other than the fact that it just wasn't working. I'm also planning on painting the inside of the door a midnight blue.

Here is the before, before when we first moved in:

So I have a lot of work ahead of me. Fun work, of course, but work all the same. At least I have a couple of months to figure it out! Any suggestions?

The DIY gift

2011-10-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

I have a thing about birthdays. Or rather not about birthdays themselves, but about the gifts. I love the decorations, I love the goodies, and getting together with friends, but what I don't love is the gift giving. Mostly when it comes to kids. I had sort of a revelation one year as I watched my daughter eagerly tear into gifts that I knew would only be played with for a week. But to be polite you accept them with a smile, and then donate them to Goodwill when an appropriate amount of time has passed. I can't be the only one who has noticed this. Kids have too many toys. They receive dozens of toys and play with only three.

There have been studies that prove this.

So the last couple of years I've decided to start making gifts. Something hand crafted and thoughtful - checking with the mom first to make sure it will be used.

Here are some of the great ideas out there:

Rag dolls

There are dozens of these out there and they are so cute. I made one for my youngest when she turned one and I'm just waiting for some friend to have a little girl so I can make another! You can even get creative make characters out of them. I have a daughter who loves superheroes and I'm thinking of making her a Supergirl version.

via Martha Stewart

There are tons of bag and purse tutorials. This one made me laugh and would be perfect for a book lover.

I'm going to make one to use as our library bag.

via eighteen25.blogspot.com

This is a sweet one and perfect for dads and grandparents - you know the hardest people to shop for. It's a photo book that has pages for the kids to draw or write on. I love it!

via Designaglow

Felt is great! It has many uses and is so cheap. I made a felt board for my playroom, a roll-able travel felt board for my daughter's friend's birthday and this felt board for my friend's son.

If you're looking for a way to use scrap fabric and something to keep an older child busy try this:

Braided fabric bracelets.

I taught my 7 year old how to do this and she spent an hour making bracelets. These would be great for a child who is interested in making their own gifts to give.

You can never go wrong with buttons. I made this for a friend's daughter who was getting her own room for the first time.

These are all over the place and make adorable gifts for babies and children. I made these for a new nephew. With three girls it was fun to do some boy things for a change!

The tie ones are always a hit. Want to personalize it even more? Secretly ask the dad for some of his old ties and use his ties to make the appliques! Now baby really will be just like dad.

Paper crafting is one of the easiest ways to create a gift. How cute is this idea?! Cut shapes and letters out of maps! You could make animals, the person's name, the shape of a state. So many ideas. I made the word LOVE for my bathroom.

I cannot wait to try this. Take an old board book (or one you acquired that has a really poorly written story) paint with chalkboard paint and make a chalk board book! Isn't this a fantastic idea?! Add a box of chalk and it would make the perfect gift for a child.

Hand made hair accessories are all the rage and you can get them any where, but they really do make sweet gifts for little girls. And big girls, too :)

Happy gifting!

Malm Dresser

2011-09-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that I went to Ikea recently? We don't have one here in Las Vegas, so I always make a point to go when I am in the vicinity. This time I made some larger than usual purchases.

I had a spot in my house that was driving me crazy. Seriously, it was giving me a headache I would stare at it so long. I finally came to the conclusion that there was no hope for the hand-me-down pieces that were there and I would just have to get something new and start from scratch.

Enter the Malm. This will be great for filling in the space and adding storage.

What I love most about Ikea pieces is that they are like a blank canvas and can be transformed to your own personal style.

So the question is what direction do I take it?

Knobs:

Greek detailing:

Painted trim:

Nailhead:

(my absolute preference, but it intimidates the heck out of me and I'm not sure that I would ever do it!)

Overlays:

(and easily applied and interesting detail)

The possibilities are endless.

Docksta

2011-09-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

This is my new kitchen table! While I liked the shape of my octagon one, the paint finish was impossible to keep clean and crumbs got stuck in the cracks. I considered filling it in with wood filler and putting a sealant on the top...but that just sounded like a lot of work :) So instead I bought this:

A couple of weeks ago I bought chairs off of Craig's that look almost exactly like these:

Except they are all black, dirty, and in bad need of some TLC. I love them!

I just need to decide what color to paint the frames. Silver, like above.

White with a fun pop of color for the cushion.

Yellow could be fun.

Leave them black?

Or maybe paint them blue.

Or even red.

What do you think?

Clock Makeover and Alphabet Letters

2011-08-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

Out of neccessity I've decided to teach a little preschool this school year. I just couldn't find one for my daughter, but really wanted her to do one. I was looking at my playroom the other day deciding what I needed to get done in there to have it ready for preschool, when I decided that a clock would be good.

Inspiration struck. I took this clock I picked up from my MIL's donation pile:

I removed the hands, coated it in spray adhesive and laid it face down on a map I had tucked away in a drawer.

After smoothing any air bubbles out, I turned it over and with an exacto knife cut around the clock.

(I had a picture of this, but somehow it got deleted and I'm not at home to put the picture back in!)

Once the clock was cut out and the adhesive dry I gave it a light coat of homemade modge podge. You can make your own modge podge by mixing water and glue. Use less water for a thicker, shinier coat and more for a thinner coat.

I made my glue very watery. I didn't want it super shiny, I just wanted to seal the paper and make it a little stiffer to withstand sanding.

Once the modge podge is dry take a light grit sand paper and smooth off any jagged edges. After sanding I added numbers - I don't like to guess the time! I used vinyl numbers that allowed me to easily peel off and reposition the numbers. My MIL gave me the number sheets, but I think they are the kind you use on mailboxes.

And here is the final product:

The pictures aren't the greatest - I get horrible lighting in there :) But I have to say I LOVE how it turned out.

Even better - I used a map from where I grew up. See that lake? I swam there every summer.

Not only do I have a really cute clock, I also have a letter "O" to add to my wall!

I never thought it would take so long to gather letters. Using some things I had in my craft closet I was able to make two more letters.

Some extra fabric and canvas from a long ago art project.

Add a vinyl letter "Y":

More extra fabric, used canvas, and a wood "D":

(I stretched the fabric over the canvas and hot glued it in place. I also hot glued the "D" on.)

Only six more letters to go!

Paint Treatments on Furniture

2011-07-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

For awhile now I have been dreaming of a chest of drawers with an amazing paint treatment. Something for my entry, or maybe my family room, or maybe my bedroom...

{House Beautiful - anyone else drooling? Isn't this amazing?}

{Paul Marra Chest}

{unknown}

{Horchow}

{unknown - and can I just say that while I love the chest
and mirror I am not so in love with the lamps and velvet curtain? They're a little distracting.}

{unknown}

{unknown - Love this!}

{Adore Home Magazine}

{Architectural Digest Espana}

{unknown}

*Not sure why the alignment came out all wonky :)

Vintage Printable

2011-07-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across the most amazing site today! Vintage Printables offers over a thousand vintage prints and downloadables for free! The prints are gorgeous. I couldn't believe the amazing color. I've already got five picked out for my entry, and more for around my house! Here are just some of the ones that caught my eye:

DIY Chandelier

2011-06-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of DIY Capiz Shell wax paper chandeliers out in the the blog world. It's one of those ingenuis DIY's that we all see and think, "I never would have thought of that!"

{via Design Sponge}

The other day I got a catalogue in the mail and saw this:

{via at westend}

I instantly thought of the wax paper knock off and wondered if vellum would work as well. Think of all the color variations and combinations! It would be fun to try!

Bathroom Update - A Couple of Before and Afters

2011-06-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

My upstairs bathroom is almost done! I only need to paint some hooks and dye the rug, which I'm hoping to get done after we get back from our week vacation (leaving for the beach tomorrow!). Here are some before and afters:

Cute elephants I picked up for a couple of dollars on clearance - but the brassy finish clashed with the yellow walls.

A couple coats of spray paint later:

This step stool has seen better days before my daughter put stickers all over it:

Goo Gone, a rubber scraper, paint, and lots of tape later:

I have to say I love how the step stool turned out! I didn't want to worry about evenly space lines, so I decided to randomly space them and make them different sizes. I like this so much better!

Mounted Felt Board

2011-06-09T06:52:00.002-07:00

Years and years ago, back when I was a poor young mom of one, I hot glued some felt to cardboard to make a felt board for my daughter. For the last couple of years it has been folded up in a closet, forgotten.

I decided it was time to bring it out of the darkness and give it new life.

This glassless frame my MIL was getting rid of was the perfect size. I painted it white and preceded to create my felt board.

Using the cardboard from my original project I cut the cardboard to fit as a backing for the frame. You'll want to cut this exact to just a hair bigger than the fram to insure a tight fit.

Next I took my exisiting felt and cut out a piece to fit my frame. I like to use chalk to trace on fabric since it rubs off easily. I then hot glued the felt directly to the cardboard. I figured this hot with a lot of trial and error. I kept trying different ways to ahdere it to the frame (glue, staples), but couldn't get the felt pulled tight enough. It stretches. I realized that if I just glued it to the cardboard it would work fine!

I made the mistake of thinking I needed new green felt. I should have just used the already glued together pieces I had because then I wouldn't have made this mistake:

See the lump? I forgot to have my blue piece cover the entire back ground and then lay my green piece on top of it. Instead I overlapped them which created a bulge. I didn't notice it until it was too late to undo it. Oh well - live and learn, right?!

I decided to use green ric rac to give the green a more "grassy look."

It turned out really cute and my girls are having a lot of fun with it. It's now mounted on my playroom wall, but I still need to paint over the nail holes.

This project inspired me to create some travel size felt boards I'll share with you later!

Genuis

2011-06-07T10:28:00.001-07:00

If you never visited Danika Herrick over at Gorgeous Shiny Things, now is a good time to stop by. She, along with business partner Cheryl Ruhda, have created the most amazing thing. Adhesive fretwork!

Check out this before and after:

The fretwork comes in a number of size, can be painted, and adhered to just about any surface with just about any adhesive. Genuis!

Ikea Face Life

2011-05-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

We've all seen this Ikea chandy. And who doesn't love it? It's an inexpensive look - alike for a lot of other chandeliers out there.

I've seen it painted a gold, which I think is a fabulous idea. Or how about soft yellow for a nusery, or hot pink for a tween?

Or what about a complete face lift? Jenny at Little Green Notebook, ingeniously took the daisy chandelier and turned it into her own version of a sputnik. It's is a must see!

Garage Entry

2011-05-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

Every home needs a command center. The place where everything gets written down, pinned, and collected - mail, bills, homework. Despite its narrow dimensions, I decided to make our garage entry the command center for our family. It's where we enter the house, so it's naturally a good dumping place.

Several months ago I dyed a rug for the entry, and the last few months I've been working on somethings to further help organize the space.

Fabric lined, hanging file folders for mail and homework.

And a bulletin board for messages, the calendar, and things I want to remember.

I took the bulletin board out of my playroom and gave it an easy makeover with some chalkboard paint and scrapbook stickers.

It may get it's frame painted, but I'm in no hurry to decide that.

I also removed the key hooks from our old and unused mail holder and screwed them into the bulletin board. I love that I can deposit keys and mail right when I walk in the door.

I used a black permanent marker to clean up my edges.

2011-05-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since I last posted anything! My little unexpected surprise kept me tired and hesitant of spray paint, and since just about every project on my list involves spray paint...it was easy to just step away from it all and save it for another time.

Sadly, a couple of weeks ago, my unexpected surprise ended as unexpectedly as it began. I've found that the saying, "Time heals all wounds" is true...and that picking up a can of spray paint helps, too. :)

I'm getting back in the swing of things and will hopefully have some projects finished soon!

Painted Furniture

2011-04-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

What a great way to had color and interest to a room without painting the walls! Perfect for apartments and renters.

And what a great way to style a bunkbed! I never thought those could look chic!

Is it because it's Spring (finally)...

2011-03-31T08:47:00.001-07:00

...or because of yesterday's post that I have butterflies on the brain? Either way they're fun to look at!

Butterfly Collages

2011-03-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

Butterflies never seem to get old. I've been seeing these punched butterfly collages around the web world and just borrowed some punches to make one of my own. I'm envisioning a large one for above my daughters bed. I love the straight, simple lines.

But I also love a scattered look, too!

What a perfect DIY for your little girl or someone else's. And if you use thrifted or old frames and a stack of magazines a pretty cheap one, too!

Painted Vinyl Floor

2011-03-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

I suffer from what I call design ADD. Meaning that I often think about and engage in more than one design project at a time which not only means that I usually have several half finished projects around the house, but I also tend to lose sleep over a good idea. So despite the fact that I have a half painted bathroom, mirrors waiting to be hung, chairs to be sanded, painting and reupholstering to do I am already scheming about my laundry room.

It's a small, dark space which has caused me to (against my usual preference) want to paint it white. Bright white walls, white shelving and cabinetry, with pops of color in the accessories and a colorful rug. But I also want to paint the floor. There's no way it can be replaced any time soon, so I've decided painting is the way to go. Here are some great examples of what you can do with a vinyl floor, paint, and a little bit of elbow grease.

{Beautiful Nest}

{found on Apartment Therapy}

{found on bhg.com}